A review by Jenni: I guess I need a few moments to reflect
before I start. With this episode, I reach the point I've
been wanting to get to for years now... since I started this
Episode Guide. I loved Andrew in Season 9 more than in any
other season. And now here I am... moments from seeing
him. But there's such a different feeling now. When I
started this Episode Guide, I would never have imagined that on it
I would wind up charting my emotions as I mourned John. I
couldn't have foreseen the sadness and the bittersweetness.
I would have been shocked to discover that I'd find myself helping
a wonderful but grieving team build a memorial site for
John. And yet... a lot hasn't changed. I come to this
episode still loving John for giving us hope, for teaching us
about God's love. And there's an even deeper gratitude to
him now. He helped me find peace in knowing that those I
loved and lost are being held by an all-loving God. And
there is peace in knowing John himself lives with that same God
forever now. As I write this on the eve of Pay It
Forward in Memory of John Dye going live, I pray that John
knows how utterly loved he is by so many and I thank God for John
and all the blessings He has given us. What I love about this episode:I think something must have
happened with how TBAA was filmed starting with this season.
It just looks so much brighter and clearer. I love it!

I like Monica and Tess bantering at the start. It seems like
an earlier, more playful episode for a bit with Monica teasing
Tess about her age. I'm with Tess. Rustic over French
country.
Just wanted to take a moment to say it says a lot about how much I
like this show that I love this episode as much as I do.
Cause apocalyptic stuff drives me batty. But the way they
handle this seems so real and not crazily hyped up to me.
It's a sensational topic but still really just about family and
love. And some guy with insanely good looks and fashion
sense and a charming soul...

Kinda amusing that for a moment Monica appears to believe Andrew
trashed the car. One wonders what mischief he's gotten up to
that would make her imagine such a thing. ;-) Maybe
she was thinking of "Sins of the Father."

"There's no such thing as coincidence." An oldie but a
goodie from Andrew. I believe that now more than ever!

I want to go be in the country and see the stars... Bonus if
Andrew's there, too.

I love seeing the trio preparing a meal together. So cozy.

Mildred is awesome. And has impeccable taste. Andrew
sure is a "Cutie." Although I still prefer His Studly
Awesomeness. Although "Cutie" is definitely more succinct.

Wow... Gonna have to agree with Monica. Shocker.
I do think a lot of the fun of a trip is the planning of it.
All those days of looking forward to it... The
organizing! The wardrobe planning! The studying
up! Okay... I sound so nerdy. Going with the flow can
be nice, too.

"I've learned that you never really know what it takes to bring
two people together but... ya just gotta recognize that chance
when it comes because sometimes that window opens and closes very
quickly." Awesome line from Andrew. Carpe diem.

I love that Tess squeezed Andrew's shoulder after Mildred left the
room. Everyone should love on Andrew.

"It may sound old fashioned, Andrew, but I'm a Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit kinda gal and I'm not afraid to die." I want to
steal that quote from Mildred. And I loved that Andrew
responds with "I don't think that sounds old fashioned."
Love him...

And now Mildred is making me cry. During some dark moments,
I have really struggled with liking this world when it no longer
physically holds the guy I've had a crush on since I was 14.
I can't imagine, then, how much, much more of a struggle it would
be to live in a world without the man one actually married at
19. Unfathomable. And yet Mildred continued to live
fully. I really do love this character. "You must not hate what God loves. And
God loves you." From Monica to Joe.

"All sorts of things get broken in this life... Hearts get
broken. Pieces of rock are broken off from distant worlds
but you can't worry about the myriad things that can break
in the universe. Just remember that God can heal all of
them. God can heal this world in His time." That
Monica quote really speaks to me right now.

"We praise God for what we understand and we praise Him even more
for what we don't understand." I think that quote from Tess
pretty well describes what we'll be doing tomorrow. "Because
He understands everything," she goes onto say.

What I didn't love about this episode:I've got nothing. And that's
great!

Lingering questions:
One wonders if Andrew was actually there when that asteroid hit
Siberia or if he's merely heard of it... I'm thinking he's
referring to the Tunguska event. I had to Google "asteroid
Siberia" after he said that. A brief browse makes it seems
as if no one died. But maybe he was there to deal with the
fear of death it no doubt brought to people there. Hmm.

Parts that
made me feel swoony:He's so adorable with his complete
disinterest in lodge styles. ;-) Just focused on
timing! So Andrew. And so... so... Wow.
Best looking nearly forty year old ever...

Oh... So after my sobfest last week, I mentally promised
John that I'd be more swoony and positive tonight. It's so
on. Plain white tee layered with black button-up and the
always awesome jeans... And the shaggy hair...

"Rustic-y, log cabin-y, country, cottage-y... umm... chalet...
it's nice." I want to go there... Sorry, I had a Liz
Lemon moment. But really... that's an adorable
description. I would so go to said chalet if Andrew did a
commercial for it and delivered that line. Which reminds
me... I think John's the only actor I've ever rewound just cause
of how he delivered a line. Awesomeness. Oh... I love this white stripey shirt of
his. But, like I often say, I have a feeling simply seeing
the shirt thrown over a chair or hanging on a rack wouldn't get
much of a reaction from me. It's all about the guy wearing
the shirt. :-)

Note to all who have pondered along with me... Mildred calls
Andrew "Green Eyes." So at least here... John's eyes are
green.

Pocket watch!!!

Aww. When Andrew tells Joe he's not a dad but he knows what
it's like to love someone and not be able to get through to
em... It hits me in a couple different ways. I wish
all of John's dreams could have come true. But I know God's
way of answering prayers and requiting dreams isn't always clear
to us. Secondly, poor Andrew. All the angels
really. But clearly I have my preference... It must be
hard to feel so much love for assignments and then just have to
watch them screw up... sometimes with deadly results.

I just love his scene with Mildred out by her bike, when she talks
about her husband. Andrew just gets things that Monica has
to find her way to. He understands how Mildred feels,
wanting to be in Heaven with the man she loves.

Oh, thank God. THC didn't cut the part with Andrew on the
dark road with Ricky! And I totally forgot he rode up on the
motorcycle. Oooh... so awesome. The shots of him
during this scene are among my favorites. So beautiful.

I've been saying for a long while that if I could have the death
scene of anyone from movies, TV, or books... I'd take
Mildred's. And I stand by that. She dies in Andrew's
arms and God's...

Minimal tears. Lotsa smiles. Lotsa swoony
moments. I kept my promise to him.
Random thoughts:Music:
Didn't catch any for a long while but I'd totally forgotten about
how Tess sings "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands."
Beautiful.

They're staying at Angel's Crest Lodge. Might be good to
know sometime...

It concerns me just a lil that I haven't lived nearly as long as
Mildred and I think I understand the answer to Monica's
question. I don't have a death wish. I'm not
suicidal. I would never do or not do something in the hopes
of hastening my own death. I'm here for the duration.
But I can't see myself getting all worked up about possibly dying
quickly and soon via
asteroid. If it's time, it's time. Of course, I would
feel awful for those of a different sentiment. It would
bother me much more to think of those I love dying. But if I
was like Mildred and had lost all I loved... I think I'd be pretty
calm, too.

Scenes Hallmark cut:
- In the original, right after Andrew gives his line about
coincidences, he peers at Gloria and asks if she got new
glasses. She giggles and asks if he likes em. Andrew,
Monica, and Tess refrain from answering but their expressions
suggest they do not... Gloria seems bummed.
Okay... Kinda an awkward moment. But yay for Andrew
being observant. I never notice new glasses.

-THC makes it look like Tess misses talking to Ricky when he runs
off but she actually did visit with him. She finds him
smoking in Andrew's pickup (poor Andrew... now his vehicle is
smelly). She asks him what he thinks he's doing. Ricky
says he's going home. Tess says "Let me get this straight:
you're gonna get stoned, steal my friend's tow truck, ride a 100
miles an hour down a one lane road and try to outrun an
asteroid?" You know the tone. She tries to takes the
keys. They argue. Tess tells Ricky it's not a good
time to have his head in a cloud of smoke. Ricky turns on
the truck. News comes on. The announcer is saying that
the president ordered curfew for everyone in the Western U.S. in
two hours. National Guard is called in. He tells
people to sit tight, there's no where to go, say a prayer.
*Then* Ricky drives on and Tess pleads after him to come back
which is all THC kept of the scene.

Further on down the road...Gotta say... I feel like I'm in a completely different
place emotionally than when I did this review initially. A
lot of the sadness is gone. Actually, the only thing making
me nervous about this is last time I watched this episode, I was
among friends. Feels kinda lonely watching it by
myself! However, I am glad to get back to these episode
reviews. I've missed em while I was writing my 1,000 plus
page The Great Divorce fanfic. Yep, that's what I'm
calling it... Well, at least one of the things I'm calling
it. "Thing That Consumed the Last Five Months of My Life"
works, too. Or, simply, "The Carpenter." :-)

The scenery is so beautiful in this.

I still really like Mildred but I've had a bit
of a change of heart. I can still understand wanting to go
to Heaven and be reunited with
one's beloved and God. But I really don't understand being
so brazen about hundreds of other people dying. "The sooner it hits the
better"? Seriously? Way to put your pain above
everyone else's...

Andrew wasn't a dad then but... ;-) Kinda wanna pause
this and go write about him and Belle but I won't. I
actually watched both this and "The Sixteenth Minute" a few weeks
ago so kinda feeling a bit restless. Weirdly, I'll be glad
to get to "Two Sides" even though it's a hard episode.

The Jesus Taboo got broken! Sorta...

Ricky's outburst makes me very glad I'm not an atheist... I
can't imagine going through life thinking that so much didn't
really matter. And, don't get me wrong, I totally understand
that some atheists find great meaning in life. But I find
meaning in doing things only I will ever know about.
Learning things and such. Cause I figure I get to take my
intellect with me and will get the answers I could never find here
on Earth. Not sure how I'd feel about those things if I
thought this was it.

I wonder why shows like this make up presidents. The radio
guy started to say "President Ha..." Why wouldn't they just
say "the President" and make it sound more real? Maybe
it's some sorta etiquette thing.

This episode has some really wonderful quotes. There are a
few where I struggle to pull out a single quote beyond "God loves
you" but this one... so many beautiful lines.

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